Arlington VA - The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, today released a report entitled "How Innovations in Medical Imaging Have Reduced Radiation Dosage." MITA is the leading association of medical imaging and radiation therapy systems manufacturers and is a division of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. The following is the executive summary of the report. The full report is available at MITA's website, www.medicalimaging.org.
Medical imaging continues to empower doctors and medical professionals to view the human body with ever increasing clarity and accuracy. This enables better diagnoses and better medical care for patients.
The ability of medical imaging to provide physicians with this new information and new vision inside the human body has created dramatic improvements in the quality and length of lives. For example, CT has all but eliminated the practice of exploratory surgery with its associated invasive risks and lengthy recovery periods. These improvements have been widely documented in peer-reviewed medical journals, embodied in practice guidelines of medical specialty societies, and underscored by public and private regulatory agencies responsible for quality medical care.
Medical imaging technologies that emit radiation-computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine, and X-ray radiography-are used widely to improve diagnosis and care for such conditions as cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, and cardiovascular conditions. Based upon an evaluation of the peer-reviewed literature that details the improvements brought about by such technologies in these and other areas, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of lives have been saved and millions more dramatically improved as a result of these imaging technologies.
At the same time, this savings in lives and improvement in health outcomes occur-in the case of CT, X-ray, and nuclear medicine technology-as a result of the use of radiation. None of the health improvements that come from these technologies would be possible without radiation. The radiation exposure from such technologies for individual patients is in the low-range. Although the small potential risk of cancer from such levels of radiation is generally recognized, scientific studies have never conclusively linked the occurrence of cancer with the use of medical imaging technologies.
FDA and other federal agencies have underscored repeatedly that the benefit from the use of radiation under the direction of medical professionals, for diagnostic imaging and therapy purposes, normally outweighs the small potential risk posed by such radiation. It is a generally accepted assumption that one has a 25% chance of getting cancer over one's lifetime. Using the FDA-published risk factors, a CT cardiac stress/rest perfusion study, for example, increases the risk of cancer by 0.05% bringing the total risk to less than 25.05%.
Manufacturers of medical imaging technology have introduced new product and system innovations during the past 20 years that have reduced radiation dose for many imaging procedures by 20-75% while preserving the ability of imaging technologies to aid physicians in diagnosing and treating disease. These dose reductions have been achieved through innovations in product operation and design, software applications, operating practices, and procedure algorithms. Among the reductions:
- "Pulsed" rather than continuous x-rays in minimally invasive surgical procedures reduce patient dose by 50-75%.
- Automated exposure controls that match the dose to body size and thickness reduce dose from 10-30% for routine CT examinations and, up to 50% for CT cardiac examinations.
- Reduced technique pediatric protocols that are based upon patient age and weight have reduced CT dose to pediatric patients significantly. Dose reductions of up to 80% for infants and 50% for small children are common with these pediatric protocols.
Manufacturers of medical imaging technologies and their trade association-the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association)-also work closely with federal agencies and professional groups to develop treatment approaches that further reduce radiation dosage, especially among children.
MITA believes that it is important to continue efforts to reduce dosage through innovation in medical imaging technologies and through continued efforts by physician, patient, and industry groups in such areas as education, training, and practice algorithms. MITA also believes that all parties-patients, medical personnel, imaging companies, government agencies, and the news media-must fully understand that a balance is being struck between lowering radiation emissions and ensuring quality imaging services that are essential to better health across a range of conditions. It is important to remember that radiation dose reduction, while important and necessary in medical imaging, should not compromise the diagnostic outcome of a clinically necessary examination1.
This white paper examines the issue of radiation dosage and addresses the publicly raised concerns about it. The paper also documents the advances made by the medical imaging industry to reduce radiation levels and illustrates the health and patient productivity benefits of imaging.
